Today we are continuing our tour of Washington, DC with a stop at the Lincoln Memorial.
If you have ever attended any of my conversation hours you probably know 2 things about me. I know American Sign Language and I'm obsessed with Lincoln's hands!
Now before you call me crazy... Let me explain.
Inside the Lincoln Memorial is a large statue of President Abraham Lincoln created by Daniel Chester French. Lincoln is sitting on an ornate chair with his hands resting on the arms of the chair, one hand is clenched in a fist and the other is more relaxed and open.
If you are like me and you know American Sign Language, then you have probably heard the story that his hands are making the ASL letters A (which is a fist with the thumb on the side) and L (which is a more open shape with the thumb and pointer finger making the letter L.) Take a look at this picture.
I sure do! It's subtle but it looks like an A and L to me. Besides if it's supposed to be symbolic wouldn't you want it to be subtle.
However, The National Park Service says this story is not true and that Daniel Chester French never intended for Abraham Lincoln to be signing his own initials.
They also say there are no documents proving this story is true.
But let's look at a few interesting facts.
We know Daniel Chester French knew the American Sign Language alphabet because he made a statue for the Deaf community using the letter A.
Long before he made the Lincoln statue, he made a statue of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founder of the first school for the Deaf in the United States and Alice Cogswell, his first student. In the statue, Alice is making the ASL letter A. In this case, it is quite deliberate and not subtle since the statue depicts Gallaudet teaching Alice American Sign Language.
The statue is located on the Gallaudet University campus in Washington DC. Gallaudet is a university for Deaf and hard of hearing students and considered by many to be the heart of the Deaf community in the United States.
But it doesn't stop there. Abraham Lincoln also had a connection to Gallaudet University. He signed the charter that created it in 1864.
So, it's not hard to believe that Daniel Chester French might have added this symbolism in his statue of Abraham Lincoln. Maybe it's just a coincidence, maybe not. We may never know. But it's sure interesting to think about.
Thanks for listening. This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com
Read more about it at
http://libguides.gallaudet.edu/content.php?pid=352115
No comments:
Post a Comment